I've been wondering a lot lately about how we can form unity among our brothers and sisters across this country.
The kind of unity I'm talking about is the kind that the French have historically exhibited when a public strike is under way; they do not cross the picket line.
It is really that simple: when there is a public action, the public is given the benefit of the doubt over the government, or the corporation or the king or whatever...
It's the idea that we have a common purpose: we're alive, we're here, we want basically the same things.
How can we instill that here, where the emphasis has always been on the determination of the individual to endure, and the will of the collective has always been denigrated and belittled.
I think that it comes down to a really simple principle: my allegiance, above any other, is the continued existence of life, including and embracing human life, on this planet.
That comes beyond country, creed or any distinction that I can conceive of at the moment. I hope the same is true for you too.
So, that means that the good of the whole comes before my personal good at the moment. So if my ability to get a bargain is hampered by a strike; whose picket line I choose to honor, that is price that I choose to pay.
If I forgo a day of work, or two, or more, for the general strike that will bring an end to a criminal government, then that is the price I should and must pay. It is really the minimum that I should pay.
Is our participation in this wonderful society, with all of it's freedoms and benefits and obligations and duties, to be without any participation beyond filling out our tax forms and doing a bit of complaining? Or are we willing to stand up for our talk, to start to organize ourselves into meaningful groups capable of real action?
Communities like Daily Kos are the roots of unity in our society. We already have a level of trust that is quite rare and admirable in our ability to muster action for the good of society.
What is needed is to take it to the next level, where we're willing to stand up for each other when times get hard, we're willing to pass by the bargain, to refuse the scab job and make a bit of sacrifice in real-time, for our brothers and sisters right here, right now (and they are our brothers and sisters, please don't mistake there: we're all in this together - we hang together or we hang separately - A. Lincoln)
Thank you for reading.